Building a Better (Academic Program) Map

Building a Better (Academic Program) Map

January 27, 2017

Gordon State College

Most academic programs in the USG have sequences of courses that convert to program maps. These tools are essential to help students navigate programs of study and succeed. Program maps provide concrete guidance for students to help them take the right courses at the right time, to stay on track to completion, and when coupled with appropriate milestones, to know what other steps they need to take to be ready to finish on time. They help to make program requirements and course sequences transparent to students, leading to a decrease in unnecessary credits and increased persistence and graduation. Furthermore, they are useful tools for increasing the efficiency of advising systems by providing frameworks for students’ progress through a program of study.

This workshop outlined practical tips on building program maps with constrained choices and appropriate milestones with ample time for experimentation, discussion and collaboration.